NYC Sues Verizon Over Breaking Fiber-Optic Coverage Promise

The city of New York filed a lawsuit Monday against Verizon, saying the phone giant did not keep its 2008 promise to make its FiOS cable service available to all city residents, according to CBS New York.The city says Verizon missed a 2014 deadline to extend wire by every home or apartment building in the city — in technical parlance, “passing” the home. The city also argues that Verizon hasn’t installed service for thousands who requested it.“Verizon must face the consequences for breaking the trust of 8.5 million New Yorkers,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement. “Verizon promised that every household in the city would have access to its fiber-optic FiOS service by 2014. It’s 2017, and we’re done waiting. No corporation – no matter how large or powerful – can break a promise to New Yorkers and get away with it.” Verizon disagrees with the city’s definition of “passing” a home and says its cable and high-speed internet network does “pass” all households. In a letter Friday, Verizon says 2.2 million households have access. Verizon said Monday that it is “committed” to expanding Fios availability to another one million households.The lawsuit was filed in a New York state court.